'Mixed picture' over cancer care

An influential committee of MPs has released a report claiming that the delivery of cancer services in the NHS is inconsistent.

The public accounts committee concluded that, although death rates from the disease have been falling, more than one in three people still develop cancer at some point in their lives.

It was also found that a third of networks visited by the National Audit Office (NAO) had no comprehensive plans for providing cancer services in their locality, despite it being the reason for their establishment.

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The report acknowledges that marked improvements have been achieved in many areas, but there has still been no full national programme to educate people about the signs of cancer. The MPs also noted that it will not be clear whether waiting times for diagnosis and treatment have been met until full figures for 2005 are released.

There is a clear divide between the poorer and more affluent members of society when it comes to the delivery of cancer services and outcomes, with survival rates higher in London and the south, according to the committee's inquiry.

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Edward Leigh, chairman of the committee, said: "The picture is mixed at this halfway point in the ten-year course of the cancer plan.

"The NHS has met a number of important targets and there has been significant progress in improving cancer services and in making National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) approved cancer drugs more available. More money is getting through to the front line of cancer services."

Mr Leigh pointed to inequalities in cancer rates across the country and in access to certain cancer drugs. He added that some cancer networks, particularly in deprived areas are failing to address such problems and called for the cancer plan to be updated with new targets that will be monitored closely.

Commenting on the PAC's report, Liberal Democrat shadow home secretary, Steve Webb said: "It is extremely worrying that serious health inequalities still exist in the provision of cancer care.

"More needs to be done to ensure progress is being made in every community, especially socially deprived areas where cancer is most common."

Peter Cardy, chief executive of charity Macmillan Cancer Relief has called for a new national cancer plan and a closer focus on patients rather than targets.

Research out yesterday showed that there has been an increase in the number of diagnosed cases of an early form of breast cancer in the UK. The number of women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ in 2002 was 3,800, up 30 per cent from 2,910 five years earlier and charity Cancer Research UK claims that the figures provide evidence that the national breast cancer screening programme is helping to detect cancer cases earlier.

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